1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with mounting assemblies for telecommunication equipment enclosures which permits convenient mounting of such enclosures within restricted areas such as manholes. More particularly, the invention pertains to such mounting assemblies made up of a mounting plate permitting attachment of plural enclosures thereto by way of U-shaped brackets. The brackets are oriented obliquely relative to the mounting plate so as to facilitate cabling of the equipment enclosures. In preferred forms, a standoff leg assembly can be included which permits the mounting plates to be secured to an upright wall while defining a cableway between the plates and the wall surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The ever-increasing use of the internet, wide area networks and other telecommunication innovations has increased the demand for high-speed, high-bandwidth digital telecommunications services such as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), and First Level Digitally Multiplexed Telecommunications Carrier System (T1) services in homes and businesses. Because of signal propagation limitations, these digital services require the use of repeaters to repeat signals if end users are too far from the provider""s central office. These repeaters are typically housed in protective enclosures that are mounted to telephone poles or more importantly in manholes.
Given the proliferation of repeater and doubler enclosures and other types of telecommunications equipment designed for location in manholes, a problem has arisen in effectively mounting this equipment. In this respect, the manholes are often rectangular subterranean enclosures where telecommunications cabling extends from one end wall, along the sidewalls of the enclosure and out the opposite end wall. To be effective, the mounting and interconnection of the repeater and doubler or other equipment must not unduly restrict access to the equipment and cabling. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to mount the equipment on the manhole end wall or, if no space is available there, along the sidewalls thereof. In the case of sidewall mounting, this must be done in a way to avoid disturbing other pass-through cabling extending along the manhole sidewalls.
There is accordingly a need in the art for improved mounting arrangements for telecommunications equipment which permits ready mounting in a variety of locations and orientations while preserving manhole space and normal cabling runs through the manhole.
The present invention overcomes the problems outlined above and provides a mounting plate combination including a mounting plate adapted for support of a plurality of equipment enclosures at spaced mounting zones thereon, together with specialized, generally U-shaped brackets secured to the plate and supporting corresponding equipment enclosures. Each bracket includes a bight adjacent the mounting plate, with a pair of outwardly extending, spaced apart legs; an enclosure is secured by fasteners to each pair of bracket legs. Equipment enclosures of this type are more fully described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/434,235 filed Nov. 5, 1999, incorporated by reference herein.
Preferably, the plate is of elongated, somewhat rectangular configuration and presents a longitudinal axis. The bracket legs are also elongated and define respective axes. In use, the bracket leg longitudinal axes are oriented at an oblique angle (typically from abut 20-60xc2x0) relative to the plate axis. In this fashion, the individual equipment enclosures can be more readily interconnected via cabling into the telecommunications system.
Where sidewall mounting is desired, use can be made of a standoff leg assembly secured to the mounting plate and permitting attachment thereof to an upright wall surface in spaced relationship thereto to define a cableway between the wall and the mounting plate. In this fashion, a cableway is defined so that other cabling is not disturbed by the mounting assembly.